HOUSTON-The state of Texas has been awarded Site Selection Magazine's Governor's Cup for 2012, an honor presented to a state that has the most new and expanded corporate facilities announced during the year. According to a press release from Governor Rick Perry's office, Texas ended up with the top spot thanks to 761 capitalized projects announced/commenced in 2012, an increase from the 464 projects announced and/or commenced in 2011.

Within that ranking, the Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land area was named number one, with the Dallas-Fort Worth area named third in new and expanded corporate facilities among metropolitan areas with a population of more than one million people.

The accompanying article in Site Selection magazine points out five sectors that led to Texas' success during the past year: Energy, chemicals, machinery manufacturing, professional services and data centers. 

The magazine also goes on to note that the state is off to a good start this year as well. Locally, Tenaris recently announced it would build its first US seamless pipe mill in Bay City, with plans to invest approximately $1.3 billion in a facility that will eventually offer an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons. The new plant is also anticipated to generate 600 direct manufacturing jobs.

Ohio placed second in the Governor's Cup race with 491 projects, followed by Pennsylvania (which had 430 projects), Michigan (337) and Illinois (332).

For more information about the award and criteria, log onto the Site Selection magazine article here.